Recently my check engine light came on and I was informed by my local Chevy dealer that it was reading the code for the timing chain. This is a 2010 Traverse (Build date May 27, 2010) with 79.100 miles on it. I purchased it in 2011 with about 19,000 miles on it. I searched through this forum and read that until July 2010 Chevy was using the old timing chain which was recalled. It seems that since my build was in May 2010 I probably have one of the old chains. I also read on this forum that Chevy has been refusing to recall 2010s even though they have the old timing chain. Any advice on what I should do? The service guy I talked with at the dealer suggested I buy an extended warranty wait out the 30 days and bring it back and have the timing chain replaced under the warranty. They quoted me a price of $3500 for the extended warranty and approximately $2800 for the timing chain work. Are they just trying to upsale me the warranty? Is this a good idea? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I'm a frustrated owner who likes my Traverse but is really over all of the repairs and recalls.
Oh no! Mine is June 2010! Also have 150000 miles on it, and haven't had any timing chain issues yet ( knock on wood emoji ). I was hoping mine was one of them with the new timing chain. Maybe we got it after the chain had been changed because it had about 65000 miles on it when we bought it. I watched a youtube video on changing the chain, and it does not look like a job I really want to do.
I am sorry to hear of your troubles. Its a shame, Chevy knows there is a problem with the chain, and if someone drives responsibly, increasing the life of the chain beyond the warranty then the customer is screwed. Have seen this with the flex plates in the transmissions too, a known design flaw, but if you are gentle with your car, and it makes it past the warranty your screwed. :angryfire:
Any GM dealer can sell you an extended warranty, however some won't (James Black) if its not under the factory bumper to bumper warranty which is not correct. I called another and they wouldn't unless they were selling the vehicle.
There is a lot of markup on warrantys usually 100% so I would ask the dealer to cut the price of the warranty to at least what the timing chain repair costs. The new GMEPP or Extended Platinum Plan reads as a 30 day AND 1000 mile waiting period. Not sure if both need to happen before the warranty is in force, because can your Traverse drive another 1000 miles as is? Any remaining GM warranty when and if you sell the Traverse will enhance its resale value and appeal.
But for 2010- they should have the updated parts and the enlarged oil passages-----
some folks say there are leftover 2009 engines.... used in 2010's....
But I guess 1 way to tell--
2009's used Bosch ignition coils.
there were tweaks to the engine---- and
2010's used DENSO ignition coils.
My 2010 is a very early build. #56 for 2010- 1st day of production.... and I have DENSO coils.
Thus pointing to a 2010 engine.
Recently there was a poster- who had chain issues-- with I think 40 or 60,000 miles on a 2010--- his vehicle was also an early build--- built I think on the same day as mine-- or maybe the day after.
I dont think he came back to update what happened to his chains----
But-- I think in these cases-- it a matter or oil change intervals-- and keeping the oil level where it should be.
I have well over 100000 on my traverse ( 2010 ), and I go by the dummy light for oil change. It usually goes about 8000 miles between changes. Running great though, so hopefully I got one of the actual 2010 engines in mine. If not, then thank you God for taking care of the car you are letting me borrow :angel:
UGH! We have a 2010 Chevy Traverse as well, which we bought brand new in 2010 and it has just under 80,000 miles on it. The check engine light came on and went off a few times over the past 3 months, and I brought it it to get checked out. The dealer said it's the timing chains and they have to be replaced, which is very labor intensive since the engine has to be dropped, my bill will be $2,800. I asked him he's seen this happen on the Traverse with such low mileage and he said "whenever the check engine light comes on in a Traverse, it's the timing chains". And, of course, after further inspection, the water pump is leaking and will have to be replaced. The extended warranty is up so we're on our own for the repairs. This vehicle has been a huge headache, power steering had major problems, the A/C went out twice and had to be completely re-done...and now this.....So my question is, have you had any luck with GM paying for any of the repairs. And, after you had it fixed, did you have any other problems? My son works at a FORD dealership and I'm having them give me a quote on the repairs as well, as I'd get his employee discount on the parts.
UGH! We have a 2010 Chevy Traverse as well, which we bought brand new in 2010 and it has just under 80,000 miles on it. The check engine light came on and went off a few times over the past 3 months, and I brought it it to get checked out. The dealer said it's the timing chains and they have to be replaced, which is very labor intensive since the engine has to be dropped, my bill will be $2,800. I asked him he's seen this happen on the Traverse with such low mileage and he said "whenever the check engine light comes on in a Traverse, it's the timing chains". And, of course, after further inspection, the water pump is leaking and will have to be replaced. The extended warranty is up so we're on our own for the repairs. This vehicle has been a huge headache, power steering had major problems, the A/C went out twice and had to be completely re-done...and now this.....So my question is, have you had any luck with GM paying for any of the repairs. And, after you had it fixed, did you have any other problems? My son works at a FORD dealership and I'm having them give me a quote on the repairs as well, as I'd get his employee discount on the parts.
the water pump on the 2010's has an extended warranty of 10 yrs/120,000.
Being the original owners- and under 100,000--
GM may POSSIBLY work with you and offer to pay for part of the repair. Partial assistance.
Contact GM customer service and see what happens.
Others have had luck by doing this.
Since the engine has to be dropped-- theres some reports of stuff not fitting back toghether like new...
But if theyre careful it should be good after the repair.
We have a 2010 Chevy Traverse as well. Bought new-not sure of the manufacture date as it sits at the repair place at the moment. We were excited when we first got it. But now wishing we had gone a different route. Our check engine light went on but before we could bring it in, the timing chain broke! Causing damage to the engine - now we are looking at getting a new engine or dumping the car. Very displeased with the 2010 Chevy Traverse. As mentioned in prior posts - the air conditioning went out after 3 years - we were told it was an issue with the way the lines were crimped. A known issue by Chevy - but no recall because not a safety issue. And now it looks like the timing chain issue is also a known issue and no recall. That is really sad the GM does not value its customers more to take care of them when there is a known issue. My husband is a tried and true Chevy guy - but I will do my best to convince him of moving away from Chevy when we are in the market for a new car. I have owned a VW and Toyota prior to being married and my husband pushing for Chevy's. Hoping the only Chevy in our household in the future is our 57 Chevy Bel Air. Newer Chevy's don't seem to be built to the quality that I would expect and if there is a known issue GM should do the right thing for their customers and make it right.
did you ever get this resolved with your dealer/ Chevy? I'm having the same issue with my 2011 Traverse. They quote me $3500 just to remove the engine to get at the belts and then no idea yet what it would cost to finish the job. So many people on the boards complaining about this issue wondering if there is a class action being built to go after Chevy and GM about it all.
I have a 2009 Traverse. I have taken it to the dealer several times because of various recalls that the truck has had. I bought the truck brand new and I do love my traverse. I understand that the 2009 was the first year for the traverse and that sometimes there are issues that must be fixed. My dealer has been great to work with and I appreciate that. However, I took my traverse in at 59,000 miles because of the timing chain issue recall. The truck was "repaired" and I have continued to drive my traverse. Recently, my truck started doing the same thing that it did when the timing chain issue began. It now has 132,000 miles on it and is past the 120,000 limit on the recall. Has anyone else experienced this? It makes me feel like the issue wasn't truly corrected if the exact same thing is happening again. Has GM ever fixed a recall twice because of the same issue?
I am so glad I came across this forum. We have a 2009 Chevy Traverse, have only owned it for a little over 2 years. The engine light turned on so my husband went to bring it in to get looked at and on his way in to the dealership guess what happened? The timing chain broke and took the entire motor with it. So now we have to try and pay for an entirely new motor. Mind you we had gotten almost the entire motor redone about a month after we purchased it because there were issues with the timing chain and a couple of other things. When I reached out to GM I was told they would not help with any costs because we bought it used. My mind was blown as we have always been loyal GM customers & unfortunately we aren't able to afford a brand new vehicle. We were only like 10k miles over our warranty and the Traverse only has about 132k miles on it. Has anyone had any luck with the timing belt, with GM or dealerships? I could go on and on about our situation as it has been so stressful.
we had gotten almost the entire motor redone about a month after we purchased it because there were issues with the timing chain and a couple of other things.
You might want to check Kelly Blue Book or NADA and see what your Traverse is worth before you replace the engine. You might find it's not worth the price of a new engine.
Or check if you can find a good second hand traverse that was involved in an accident with a low millage engine. Putting a large amount of money on a almost 8 years old vehicule is not worth it. If you go ahead with the repairs you will end up spending more and more as the vehicule get older like exhaust system and many other issues. You wont get more money fot it when it will be the time for another vehicule because of the year and because of the end of the lambda models.
I have a 2011 Traverse that has 55023 miles and it started knocking when going down the highway. It got louder and shut down on us. Always change oil when it says too and no other issues. No warning lights no. I was told that the special warranty #11340 does not apply to my vehicle. really a vehicle with 55,023 miles just dies no warning and there is not something seriously flawed. I take care of my vehicle. I am told I have to have new engine or rebuild. Any suggestions out there.
I have a 2011 Traverse that has 55023 miles and it started knocking when going down the highway. It got louder and shut down on us. Always change oil when it says too and no other issues. No warning lights no. I was told that the special warranty #11340 does not apply to my vehicle. really a vehicle with 55,023 miles just dies no warning and there is not something seriously flawed. I take care of my vehicle. I am told I have to have new engine or rebuild. Any suggestions out there.
This is the exact same thing that happened to me only my 2011 traverse has 141000 miles on it, but I have always had regular oil changes done between 3-5k miles. It’s currently sitting at my dealership with 2 other 2011 Chevy traverse’s with the exact same problem. My engine is completely ruined and I now need a new one, which is quoted from the dealership at $9000(I know it can be cheaper) but with the fact that this keeps happening to this make and model, I would hope gm would step up and take responsibility, especially considering my vehicle isn’t even worth $9000 with a good engine to sell and I still owe $17000 on it!
I originally posted this. After taking it to the first Chevy dealer I took it to my local GM dealer. They advised me that I did not have timing chain issues and the first dealer I took it to was notorious for telling people this in an attempt to get money out of them. I'm now at 100K miles and other than having the Oxygen sensors changed, I haven't needed any work. Fingers crossed!
I hate to say it nomorechevy, but your engine lasted extra-long because you took really good care of it. They are engineering these things to drive 100,000 miles trouble free (warranty period) and not much more… just past 100K they’ll suffer cost prohibitive catastrophic failures. That’s the what the General wants. They want you to have to go buy a new car. If you would have followed your oil life meter, you would have been changing oil at 10,000 mile plus intervals and you wouldn’t have gotten the 140K out of it – would have dropped dead by 110,000. I have a 2010 and I’m suffering the same nightmare. Timing chain job would cost more than the things worth. Really needed a reliable family car that would last, invested in Traverse and got burned by Chevy. There’s only one thing you can do, and that’s what you chose for your user name. No more Chevy is the solution.
I have a 2011 Traverse LT. 94,000 miles. Just brought the car to the dealer for the power steering pump which is under warranty and check engine light. The power steering pump will be replaced at no cost, however the rack has to be replaced as well which they will not cover. The bad rack is most likely caused by the bad pump, but Chevy will not replace. Now onto the timing chain. It was replaced in March of 2015. now it needs to be replaced again. that is why the check engine light is on. Chevy will not cover this cost either. Lastly, the AC doesn't work, line is broken somewhere. Again, not covered. How many issues with the same car for many different people? Chevy knows these are constant issues, yet they do not correct them or repair at no cost for defective parts and constant issues. I'm at wits end with this. My next step is LEGAL COUNSEL about this defective engine.
Im knocking really hard on wood....
as my 2010 is now at 137,200 and im still on the factory chain, factory rack, factory PS pump, factory AC charge....
I just got over 50000 miles on my 2011 traverse and I was just told the same thing that I have timing chain issues or it could mean I need to replace the engine. I'm absolutely livid.
Update, I just had my Traverse in for the 2nd time in 18 months for timing chains. While that is fixed, I now have a new problem, every time I accelerate, "All Wheel Drive Off" comes on and I have a tough time steering. Mine is a 2010 with 82,000 miles, I'm the original owner. Any ideas on what this new problem is? I told my husband it's time to get rid of it, but after just spending so much on the 2nd timing chain job, he says we need to keep it for awhile. He has a 2016 Toyota Highlander, btw - we traded in his Chevy Avalanche for it two years ago.
I bought a 2012 2LT Traverse from the dealer with 15,890 miles on it in October of 2012. It has been a really good, reliable vehicle and is now up to 123,000 miles. After reading horror stories about timing chains on older Traverses, I contacted a Chevy dealer and talked directly to a mechanic expressing concern about a likely need to eventually replace the timing chain yet saw no written advice about that in the manual. The mechanic said the 2012 was a solid year and to "forget about the timing chain". Does this literally mean I can go 200,000 miles on the original timing chain? I change the oil when ONSTAR says to do so and use totally synthetic oil. Any advice?
I bought a 2012 2LT Traverse from the dealer with 15,890 miles on it in October of 2012. It has been a really good, reliable vehicle and is now up to 123,000 miles. After reading horror stories about timing chains on older Traverses, I contacted a Chevy dealer and talked directly to a mechanic expressing concern about a likely need to eventually replace the timing chain yet saw no written advice about that in the manual. The mechanic said the 2012 was a solid year and to "forget about the timing chain". Does this literally mean I can go 200,000 miles on the original timing chain? I change the oil when ONSTAR says to do so and use totally synthetic oil. Any advice?
Just make sure you check oil level often and make sure it stays up by the full mark.
Low oil levels- even with synthetic- can lead to accelerated wear of the chains.
Theres members on here with over 200,000 on factory chains.
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